


Finally All There

by katikat



Category: Crush (2013)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2019-05-07 12:18:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14670942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katikat/pseuds/katikat
Summary: It hits Mike Norris like a punch in the gut: he almost lost his kid… (Unbeta'd)





	Finally All There

**Author's Note:**

> Are there even any fics for this movie on AO3? *shouts into the void*

“Mike? Sheriff Wickers here. I’m calling about that boy of yours…”

That’s how Mike Norris finds out what happened, what’s been happening in his son’s life for a while now, without him noticing, making him realize just how much he failed as a father.

Because his son, Scott, was being  _stalked_ for  _weeks,_ harassed and threatened, and then kidnapped, drugged and badly hurt, almost  _killed,_  while Mike immersed himself in his work, nursing his own hurt feelings over his wife’s leaving, to even  _talk_ to his son. Maybe, just  _maybe_ if he did, it wouldn’t have gone this far.

And now, Scott’s in the hospital, alive but traumatized and hurt so badly he might never play soccer again, he might never even  _walk right_ again, and he’s there all alone while his father’s hundreds of miles away.  _Christ…_

It takes Mike hours to get back home. Hours he spends in thought, in fear. Three days, that’s how long that woman had Scott, since Friday night, and Mike dreads to even imagine what she did to his boy during that time, how helpless and afraid Scott must’ve felt.

And then he remembers the text message that he received from Scott after his landing, just one word, “Cool!”, and Mike realizes that it wasn’t Scott who sent it, it was his kidnapper and Mike didn’t even notice because, at some point, they stopped talking, he and Scott, and–

No, he needs to be honest with himself, no more lies: h _e_ stopped talking to his son because God knows Scott tried, he tried so hard to draw Mike out, to coax him into talking, into going out like they used to. And Mike’s always pulled back, still hurting too badly over his wife’s betrayal to notice that Scott’s been hurting, too, to realize that she didn’t leave just him, she left  _both_ of them. And now, now Mike almost lost the last thing that truly mattered to him. What a fool he was!

But never again, he decides _. Never. Again._

When Mike finally arrives at the hospital shortly before sunset, anxious and exhausted, he throws money at the cab driver without even checking how much he gave him - he really doesn’t care, it doesn’t matter,  _nothing_ really matters but getting to his son. And then the nurse tells him where he can find Scott and Mike sets off down the hallway fast and–

He stops in the doorway to his son’s room, wide-eyed and out of breath, and he just  _stares_. Scott’s lying in the hospital bed with his eyes closed and head tilted slightly towards the bank of windows letting in the last of Sunday’s sun. He’s dressed in a hospital gown and his right leg, knee swollen and blotched and ugly purple color, is fixed with a brace and elevated on pillows.

Mike swallows hard at the sight; it makes him sick seeing his son hurt like that. But it’s Scott’s face what causes Mike to take a sharp breath. His son’s always been pale, taking after his mother in his coloring, but now his skin’s almost gray and his eyes are red and puffy, looking bruised. He seems… entirely too  _fragile_ , broken. And that’s so wrong, so unfair that Mike wants to punch something.

He takes a step inside the room and Scott stirs. He turns his head in Mike’s direction, opening his eyes slowly, and he seems genuinely startled, seeing his father there. And that reaction feels like a kick in the chest. His son’s surprised he actually came.  _Christ…_

“Dad?” Scott croaks out.

Mike drops his bag and his jacket where he stands, not caring where they land, and he walks up to the bed, sitting down on the edge carefully, mindful of Scott’s injury. “Hey,” he responds and his voice’s thick with emotions, his throat’s closed off, as he rests one hand on his boy’s cheek.

Scott blinks hard, taking a shuddery breath, as his eyes are flooded with tears. And then he reaches out to his father, like he hasn’t done in years. And Mike, his heart clenched painfully, helps him sit up, and opening his arms, he hugs his son hard, whispering, “I’m here, kid. And I’m sorry,  _so sorry_. Everything’s going to be okay now…”

And even though this position must be hell on his injured knee, Scott clings to his father, hands fisted into the back of Mike’s shirt, and he cries, sobbing hard and loud, letting out all the pain and horror he must’ve felt over the last three days.

And Mike holds him, rocking him gently from side to side, one hand on Scott’s back, the other buried in his tousled hair, and with every touch and every word he’s letting him know that he’s finally all there and that he’s not going anywhere. Not again. Never again.


End file.
